Connecting and Informing The Community For The Betterment Of Our Youth with Kaan Camuz and Anh Gilmore

Welcome Kaan Camuz and Anh Gilmore, to PRSay – the podcast of the Houston PRSA Chapter.

In this episode, Kaan and Anh share about Connecting and Informing The Community For The Betterment Of Our Youth.

Kaan Camuz is an educator with nearly 25 years of experience... He studied Electrical Engineering and Education at University of Houston, Sam Houston State University and at University of Texas and proceeded to help establish and work at Harmony Public Schools, where he has found his true passion of connecting communities through informing and educating people. He currently serves as the Chief Public Relations Officer of this great statewide public charter school system and helps spread the wonderful stories of successful young generations to find more community resources and support for thousands of students together with his enthusiastic colleagues.

Connect with Kaan at:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaancamuz/

Anh Gilmore is a School Public Relations Specialist who is dedicated to fostering effective communication and building positive connections within the community. With 12 years of experience in educational communications, she plays an important role in strengthening relationships between schools, parents, students and the broader community. Seeing students and staff thriving and benefiting from shared resources is her motivation and drive.

Connect with Anh at:
Twitter: @AnhGilmoreHTX

Learn more about the PRSA Houston Chapter, our events and opportunities at www.prsahouston.org.

PRSay is brought to you by Veronica V. Sopher, Public Relations.

Transcript

Veronica Sopher: 0:01

Hello, and welcome to PRSay this is the official podcast of the Houston chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. And I have the pleasure of introducing you to some of the fantastic members that we have in Houston, one of the largest I would add chapters are here in the US, and we love to connect network and get to know each other. So I am thrilled to bring to you two members of a really outstanding team here in the Houston chapter in just a second. But before I bring them on, I want to make sure we take care of some housekeeping. If you are listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe, we don't want you to miss any episodes of PRSA. And if you are watching on Facebook or YouTube, drop us some comments so my guests and I can be sure to circle back with you. So with that, I'm going to go ahead and bring on our guests here. They are joining me let's see if we can get everybody on the screen here. Yay. They are joining me from the harmony public relations team, the communications team, I have Khan and and join us welcome. Please introduce yourselves.

Anh Gilmore: 1:06

Hi everyone. My name is Anh Gilmore, I am the district's community partnership for Harmony Public School central office. And this is my 12th year.

Kaan Camuz: 1:20

Hi, everybody, my name is Khan Camuz. And I have been with Harmony since the beginning since 1999. And I am really delightful to be part of this team. I used to be a teacher's assistant, Principal, Superintendent, and then later on, joined the PR team. And we are really happy that we are trying to help Harmony's students. So we are here, thanks to Omega.

Veronica Sopher: 1:52

All right, thank you so much. It's so it's so great to have fellow educators on the podcast, because we do have a lot of education outlets, we've got a great team, from some of the higher ed folks as well as the K-12 folks in our chapter of PRSA. So let's talk a little bit about your focus. I know, a big part of the work you do is community engagement resources, providing direct access to families and how we go about communicating that to them. So tell me a little bit about how your team is broken up, and how you actually make sure that those elements are embedded in all the work you do.

Unknown: 2:33

So I guess I can address that, basically, Harmony schools are located in the entire state of Texas, they are located in 23 different cities of Texas. So, our target audience, in terms of community outreach, you could say that, you know, we are trying to connect with the communities in these 23 different cities of Texas. And accordingly, since all the politics are local, and all the community engagements are also local. So we have local people doing this community outreach in these different locales. So our team accordingly, has people in located in different cities of Texas. And we also have a central office, where I and Anh are located. And we also try to do the same thing here in Houston as well. And our colleagues in these different cities are also members of the PRSA and the other related PR organizations in their own respective cities as well. And we try to connect these different communities. And we also get together on a regular basis to share best practices. And also, sometimes some community resources are available statewide, and nationwide, obviously. So we also share those with each other as well so that we can cast a wider net on community's resources for our students and families.

Veronica Sopher: 4:29

That's so fantastic and the fact that you are so embedded in other communities probably makes that a bit of a challenge because what works in one community may not necessarily work in another. So Anh speak to that since your more feet on the ground or you know, man on the ground, kind of what what are some of the challenges and communications as we're trying to connect with our local constituency.

Anh Gilmore: 4:53

Like content I'm one along with five other team members that take care of our local districts in the region, I think that's the biggest challenge we face is finding what's unique to our local region. Like concept we all get together, we share best practices. But everyone's dealing with different challenges, political climates. So we do our best. And we really connect with local chambers. I think that we learn so much from our local chambers. They kind of tell us what the political climate is like, what the educational climate is like. So I feel like the best way to kind of tap into and solve that challenge is to just really get out there, like you said, get on the field, talk to people, make relationships really important, and build that trust within your community. I found that that works best. It's just building trust, tap into your community resources, your chambers, and any other local organizations, like the Rotary Club, those are all really helpful.

Veronica Sopher: 6:01

Definitely. And you know, the other thing that was really interesting is the fact that your organization is so committed to your district level folks being involved in prsa, as well as the other communication chapters, there's not only opportunity for networking, but also an opportunity for just some of that legacy, if you will, some of the things that have happened before, especially if you guys haven't been in that market for a significantly long time that that can give you some background, so I'm sure that's been really helpful. Kaan, can you tell me a little bit about some of the communication goals that you have, and as an organization, since you are managing at a higher level, what are some of those things that you have to stay focused on while your district level folks really get embedded into the community?

Kaan Camuz: 6:49

Sure, happy to address that. So first of all, you know, we always remember that we serve students and families, and we shape, we try to shape our entire PR department and PR efforts around that thought, and around those needs, we realize that our communities, including our students, and families, and our alumni, they all have lots of needs, and what we try to do is, first we try to identify those needs. And this is the research part, obviously, of the of the PR process. And after identifying those needs, of course, you know, that come from our own people, then we try to strategize around those needs, and we put a message we try to put a message, a story of our students and our family's needs. And then once you know, we have our talking points, that talk about these needs, now we try to go out and start building relationships, cultivating and maintaining relationships, and this is very obvious, and this is very needed in today's world. Yes, you know, social media and the media are quite important in terms of spreading this news. But we also believe that the human-to-human interactions, and those types of you know, interpersonal relationships between people and between organizations are very, very important as well. So, after taking care of the communication side of all these efforts, which is you know, the social media, media coverage, etc. We also try to go out and, you know, make these human-to-human connections. We also, you know, try to work with the influencers, the community leaders, and you should tell them, our students and our families' stories and their needs, using different channels, you know, human-to-human, you know, channels and also using so many other communications channels. And another channel that we use is we try to bring these people to our campuses, and when we bring them to campuses, and have them speak to the families, the students, the teachers, the alumni, and our community partners, they all see the need in a much better setting. And then now bringing those community resources for those people in need becomes easier.

Veronica Sopher: 10:02

Yeah, I love that connection that you just made. And you said something, I think that's really important for us to take note of as communicators, you have to essentially meet people where they are, Bring, bring those, those services to them sometimes. And so, because you're leveraging personal relationships with those organizations and those resources, it's probably much easier to make that connection happen for your families than in traditional form. Right? I mean, that's probably gonna make it so much easier for your families and ultimately, your students.

Kaan Camuz: 10:39

Yeah, that's definitely. And you know, another tool, if you will, that we try to use is, of course, we have events, lots of events, and we have our own statewide initiatives. And through those events, and statewide initiatives, we also tried to connect communities with our school communities, communities, resources, organizations, with the school communities, and they, they can, like, you know, come and see through these campaigns and events, you know, what we are, and what we are trying to do. And in our organization's focus, which is STEM education, by the way, you know, STEM education is our bread and butter, and also character education. You know, how, as a school committee, we try to increase the quality of the committee's, you know, character. And when people come and see this really in place, they they are moving to help more, right, I may try to give an example. Like, and there have been so many different examples of this happening in our school communities, obviously, but one example was what happened in one of our Austin schools, one of our initiatives was, you know, we started participating in eSports, as a way for our students to express themselves, you know, in the E space, but then, like, you know, the program was struggling a little bit, because we, just like all the programs, that program also needed funding. And because, you know, we want to support teachers who want to support the sponsors who are supporting the program. And one day, you know, we brought the Texas Workforce Commission, into our campuses, and then the people of the Texas Workforce Commission. And then they came, and then they saw our entire operation regarding how our program for eSports participation works. And then they realized that they were about to give some money for these types of programs. And then, in the money-giving program, they did not include the charter schools. And after seeing what kind of offerings we have in our schools and witnessing it firsthand, they went to their own board meeting. And then in the board meeting, they made a decision to give this additional funding support to all of the charter schools in the state, as well, like not including us. So that is, you know, one example of us, you know, combining our efforts to bring community resources for our students and families.

Veronica Sopher: 13:57

Oh, that's a great example. And we all need to be doing more of that. So I love how you incorporated all of those strategies and to make a to make a big difference for your students. And so, Kaan we had an opportunity to hear your journey of coming out of the classroom, and matriculating up through through administration, but and we haven't heard yours. So tell us how you got into PR and how you got into school PR.

Anh Gilmore: 14:21

Sure. So I started off teaching elementary science for two years. And then I slowly kind of worked that to science department chair, and then eventually found my way into the school administration, being an assistant principal, and being in assistant principal, and you have to work with your community. You have to work with your parents, all stakeholders. So when I was an assistant principal, we started bringing in literacy initiatives and programs working with our local sports team, the Houston Rockets, and we built a literacy program in partnership with that, and I was like this is so much fun. I'm like, I'm able to connect with the community, I'm able to bring in resources for our students, and just kind of seeing the impact that it made, not only academically, but their social-emotional well-being. So I really enjoyed doing that. And I wish I could do this more, full-time. And eventually, a district position opened up for a director of community outreach. And so I started doing that. And eight years later here, I am still getting what I love.

Veronica Sopher: 15:30

Yes, yes. And your team won some awards at the recent Houston chapter, parents Excaliber Award. So congratulations to the harmony team. Good job, guys.

Anh Gilmore: 15:42

Thank you, I was there getting our award alongside Veronica as well. Yes, that's that that was based off our Harmony partners and education programs. We've been going strong these last couple of years. And one addition to that partnership program that I feel really made a difference was a tool, a software that we started using to match our schools' needs, with what the partners were offering us out in the community. And so that was a really good way to engage both the schools and the partners to see what the schools needed and see if partners out there can match it or even provide more resources. And I think that really helped flow our partnership program.

Veronica Sopher: 16:24

Yeah. Oh, I'm sure it did. That's fantastic. Anytime you can automate it and make it easier for you. Yes, good, good job. Well, I just applaud the work that you're doing. I so enjoyed getting to know you guys. And I hope that as you're out and about engaging with other PRSA members, that you tap into them and their resources to see how they can help you improve what's happening on your campuses, because I think you guys are doing a great job.

Anh Gilmore: 16:50

Please say hi. And it's like Veronica says, it's important to first of all work together. I mean, we're all trying to serve a community. We're all trying to help kids grow academically, and emotionally so it's all about the kids, education is key. So please help us help the community.

Veronica Sopher: 17:08

I love it. Thank you guys so much. Caught in and it was a joy having you on a PRSA and I look forward to see you guys in person.

Kaan Camuz: 17:18

Thank you so much.

Veronica Sopher: 17:22

All right, that wraps up this episode. Make sure you connect with our friends at Harmony. They are a great team. They've got great communicators doing fantastic things for kids. So when you're out and about are at our Houston events, make sure you say hello. We are gonna go ahead and wrap up this episode of PRSay. If you're listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe and if you're watching on Facebook or YouTube, tag us and let us know that you're watching. We'll catch you next time.